I was pretty stumped for a while there, couldn't think of /any/ comic strip movies made in the '80s outside of a couple Peanuts movies, and knew there wasn't magic of any kind in any of those. Something reminded me of that movie, though, and it all clicked.

Funnily enough, I had the Little Nemo NES game as a kid, but didn't learn about the movie until I was well into my teens. Definitely a great choice for a character for this.